Understanding Disparities in Access to Genomic Medicine: Proceedings of a Workshop

Released:	November 14, 2018

Note: Proceedings contain the opinion of the presenters, but do NOT reflect the conclusions of the Health and Medicine Division or the National Academies. Learn more about the differences between Reports and Proceedings.

Genomic medicine has the potential to improve the quality of health and health care by allowing clinicians to individually tailor prevention and treatment strategies to their patients. Recent research breakthroughs, technological advances, and the decreasing cost of DNA sequencing have led to wider adoption of genomic medicine in health systems. However, it is not clear if genetic/genomic services will reach all communities within the population both now and in the near future, and there remains a significant gap in knowledge regarding potential health care disparities in genomic medicine and precision health. To address potential gaps in access to these care services, the Roundtable on Genomics and Precision Health hosted a public workshop on June 27, 2018 that explored disparities in access that exist across different communities (e.g., in medically underserved areas and populations, across different racial/ethnic groups, and socioeconomic levels). Workshop discussions focused on exploring barriers to accessing genomic/genetic services, the role of health systems in delivering equitable access, how providers can increase the availability of genetic/genomic services, and innovative solutions and models of success in reducing health care disparities related to genomic medicine. This proceedings is a summary of the workshop.

For additional resources, such as the agenda and presentations, please visit the workshop page.